Marketing insights for selling to the world's toughest market. From Rick Spence

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Luck, or something like it

I was talking to a Canadian entrepreneur recently who has a fabulous view on luck.

In the past 10 years he has seen one business partnership crumble, then another partner die. His office has been flooded out, at great expense. And as most of his revenues come from U.S. customers, the rise of the Canadian dollar has been nearly lethal.

Here’s how he sees it. In baseball, you get three strikes and you're out. But in business you can keep swinging as long as you want – so long as you’re standing at home plate. Take enough pitches and eventually you’ll get one you can hit out of the park.

So despite tragedy, floods and cash-flow crunches (and a nightmare insurance claim), this entrepreneur considers himself lucky because nothing has ever knocked him off home plate for long. That’s why his motto is: “The secret of success in business is staying in business.”

And by the way – he and his company have been hitting a bunch of home runs lately. No one deserves it more.

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Writer, speaker and consultant on business growth, entrepreneurship and opportunity. My column appears weekly in the National Post. My speaking topics include innovation, best practices, social media, and the future of business success.
Please e-mail me: rick (at) rickspence.ca
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